1. Field of the Invention
A portable storage assembly comprising foldable sets of shelves movable between a folded, stored position and an extended operable position to form shelves extending transversely between two walls at spaced levels from the floor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of trucks and vans in commercial industry for transporting cargo is a well known means of shipment. Unfortunately, most trucks and vans include a single large cargo space having a floor, side walls and a ceiling wherein the overall height of the space may be as much as eight to ten feet. Often, the cargo transported in these high cargo spaces is delicate and non-stackable. One example of this is in the nursery industry wherein plants of two to three feet in height are normally placed side by side on the floor of the cargo space leaving as much as six feet of unused space above the plants. Because of the delicate nature of most plants, it is impossible to stack one upon the other without the use of some type of support therebetween and therefore, the space above the plants is rendered unusable.
The loss of storage capacity in most trucks and vans makes it extremely inefficient to ship large quantities of unstackable cargo such as plants and other delicate items, requiring the shipper to make several additional trips between the place of shipment and the destination of the cargo.
In an attempt to overcome the problem of lost storage space, many shippers have installed shelf assemblies in their trucks allowing them to stack delicate cargo at various levels throughout the height of the cargo space. While this has proven to be somewhat effective, there still are times when the full height of the cargo space is required for large pieces of cargo, such as tall trees, large boxes and other pieces of cargo which would not normally fit between shelves extending across the cargo space.
Some trucks in the prior art include removable shelves which can be placed in the cargo space when carrying smaller pieces of unstackable cargo and are removable to accommodate larger pieces of cargo. This has proven to be effective in accommodating the shipment of both large and smaller, more delicate pieces of unstackable cargo. However, these removable shelf structures are quite cumbersome and require a great deal of labor to remove and install them. Additionally, once disassembled, the shelf structures have to be removed from the cargo space in order to maximize the storage capacity.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the shipping industry for a portable storage assembly comprising foldable or collapsible shelf panels adapted to move between a folded, stored position along the interior side walls of the truck and an extended, operable position forming shelves extending transversely across the cargo space at spaced levels throughout the height thereof.